Super Couponing Tips: Outdated Phone Can't Take Advantage Of Apps

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Jill Cataldo, CTW Features

“Dear Jill,

I have had a smartphone for four years. I really like my phone and do not want to upgrade it. Anyway, apparently four years old is ancient in smartphone terms, because I use an app for couponing at a large chain drugstore. Recently the app said it needed an update, so I updated it, and guess what? Now that app won't work on my phone anymore because my old phone is no longer supported.

I'm really angry. I really only switched to a smartphone so I could use the coupon apps. Now I see it is a scam because I will have to keep getting new phones in order to use the coupons at this store, and the phones will cost me a lot more than I am saving with coupons anyway. What do you think about this?”

Barbara F.

Once you get on the smartphone train, it’s true that you’re in for a seemingly endless stream of updates and upgrades both from a software and hardware standpoint. Apps constantly add new features, create bug fixes, and prompt users to continue to upgrade the software to take advantage of them.

In a world where my son’s television is the same one I had in my bedroom as a teenager, and the muscle car I drove in high school is nearing antique status but still drives like a champ, it’s incredibly frustrating to realize that a device you’ve grown to rely on is no longer fully functional just a few years after purchase. I once wrote a column about our YouTube-enabled Smart TV that lost its YouTube-watching ability three years after we purchased it. A message flashed on the screen to let us know that its YouTube functionality was being discontinued, and a few weeks later, it disappeared completely. The television still works, but the YouTube button on the remote doesn’t – and there’s nothing we can do about it.

I feel your pain, as I, too, am also clinging to a years-old smartphone that is functionally fine, but has an older operating system that will no longer update some of the apps I used to use. I’ve learned to live with it, as I’m kind of curmudgeonly about change. Of course, part of my job involves staying up-to-date on coupon and shopping apps with regards to what’s new and interesting out there, so I’ve got to find a balance between getting a new phone every couple of years and keeping the phone model I prefer to use.

Here are some ways I’ve worked around this:

Browse some of your former apps on the web. Some popular couponing apps, including Checkout 51, SavingStar, Ibotta, Cartwheel, and other store-specific apps also work over the web. While their apps may no longer update on an older phone, I am still able to use my phone’s web browser to visit these apps’ websites and load electronic coupons.

Use a tablet to load apps: As tablet computers and similar devices have grown in popularity, the price has come down significantly. My children are too young to have phones yet, but they each have Android tablets purchased for around $50 each. These tablets can load and use many of the same apps that smartphones can, and the cost is lower than replacing your phone. I run many of my coupon apps on my tablet, which is newer than my smartphone. I also like the added benefit of a larger screen on which to browse.

However, the tablet method eventually can face the same pitfalls as a phone: The operating system of a tablet will eventually face the same fate as your phone when its operating system becomes too old to receive further updates and run new apps. Unfortunately, this is the side effect of the rapidly advancing technological age in which we live.

Many cell plans include free upgrades to a new phone every few years. If your plans includes upgrades, it may be an option worth exploring – provided you’re willing to give up your former smartphone.

Jill Cataldo, a coupon workshop instructor, writer and mother of three, never passes up a good deal. Learn more about Super-Couponing at her website, www.jillcataldo.com. Email your own couponing victories and questions to jill@ctwfeatures.com.